Winthrop men's soccer on the move in rankings

The Winthrop men's soccer team, 8-3 overall and 2-0 in the Big South Conference, is on a roll.

The Eagles moved up to No. 46 in the TopDrawerSoccer.com's top 48 to make the NCAA tournament after beating VMI 4-0 on Sunday. They fell one spot to ninth in the NSCAA/adidas South Atlantic Regional Rankings. Winthrop has won four straight matches even though the starting lineup has been different due to injuries.

Winthrop takes on Brevard College at home tonight at 7 and heads to Radford to take on the Highlanders at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

&#8226; Junior midfielder Matthew Skonicki missed the first half against VMI. He was sick -- probably the seaweed and eel he ate the night before, he said.

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Maybe he should make the menu part of his pregame ritual. He played in the second half and scored a goal.

&#8226; Goalkeeper Patrick Mitrovich played all but the last three-plus minutes against VMI and made 11 saves to improve to 7-3 on the year. He won't get credit for the shutout. NCAA rules changed the statistic mandating the keeper must play the entire game to earn the shutout.

&#8226; BASEBALL: The first weekend of the annual Banana Split series is in the books. The Gold team holds a 2-1 series lead after putting a 10-1 thumping on the White team Sunday. Garrett Koster, John Murrian, Matt Thielepape and Brandon Sills homered for the Gold.

Shortstop Kevin Nolan is leading the White team with two homers and six RBIs. Robert Lake has the White's only win on the mound. He gave up just two hits in six innings.

The series resumes Friday at The Winthrop Ballpark. The losing team has to buy the winners banana splits. Admission is free.

&#8226; SOFTBALL: Coach Mark Cooke's team went 7-1 in the fall.

"The team played really good ball," Cooke said. "Fall is a way for the freshmen to see how we play."

Cooke brought in five freshmen for the 2009 season. Spring practice starts in January.

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